Although qualified for the 2011 World Cup Final as the highest ranked horse and rider combination in Dressage for the United States, Tina Konyot has made the calculated decision not to make the trip to World Cup Final in Leipzig, Germany, April 27 - May 1. This provided Shawna Harding who was recently awarded a US Dressage Foundation Grant the opportunity to take her place to represent the USA along with Jan Ebeling and European based US rider Catherine Haddad.
That Konyot, the 2101 USEF National Grand Prix Champion, and USEF Dressage Team member for the fourth placed team at the 2010 World Equestrian Games, second ranked USA rider, and 21st ranked Dressage rider world wide chose to pass on the opportunity was not a mystery, but a well thought out decision. The funding was just not there for two trips to Europe.
Konyot decided to pass on the World Cup in preference for working towards the long range plans for a European tour later this summer which will culminate in the presence of the USA’a top team at Aachen for the Nation’s Cup Team. But even that at this point is not a sure thing.
"I am excited for Shawna (Harding),” Konyot told DressageDaily, “that she now has the opportunity to represent the United States in Leipzig, and know for myself and Calecto V it is a decision which is best for the both of us at this time.”
For Konyot who owns her own horse, and funds much of the expense through her work as a trainer and clinician, getting back on her feet financially after devoting much of 2010 to the USEF WEG Team schedule was where she needed to concentrate her efforts.
by Mary Phelps/Hathaway
Read the full story on Americans struggling with funding to finance competing oversees at Dressagedaily.com
